2019 BIG ARTS tickets now on sale

August 15, 2018

BIG ARTS' upcoming season will feature 17 main stage performances that run the gamut - peppered in amongst art exhibits, a film series, lecture programs and more - and tickets go on sale today.

The 2019 Schein Hall series will run from January through March, kicking off on Jan. 5 with Beginnings, a Chicago tribute band that has performed at Disney's EPCOT Center and Las Vegas casinos since 2002. The band is comprised of some of the finest New York musicians around.

Classical acts like the Grammy Award-winning Pacifica Quartet with Sharon Isbin, unusual and engaging Oboe Fusion, and American virtuoso pianist Jonathan Biss are on the lineup with Grammy Hall of Famer Judy Collins, seven-piece brass band Bumper Jacksons and globe-trotting m-pact.

"They range from pop and contemporary, to bluegrass and classical," she said.

Other performances include the Cirque du Soleil-caliber New Shanghai Circus and iluminate, a dance and acrobatic group aglow with wireless lighting that took third place on "America's Got Talent."

"We have some theater pieces coming," Harder said.

March will feature "Sister Strikes Again!: Late Nite Catechism 2" by Maripat Donovan, a sequel to the "standing-room-only" original, as well as the Zoetic Stage's heartwarming "Every Brilliant Thing."

"We're bringing in a new partnership with the Zoetic Stage theater company out of Miami," she said. "We're very excited about our new partnership with them."

In addition to the main stage acts, BIG ARTS will host a weekly film series on Monday nights from November to March. Foreign and independent documentaries from around the world, the first one takes place on Nov. 5 at 7 p.m. The film, "Itzhak" by Alison Chernick, looks at the life of Itzhak Perlman.

"We show incredible films that you're not going to see at the first-run theater," Harder said.

While The FORUM lecture series is typically sold out early through subscribers, BIG ARTS does feature a daytime lecture series - and has added a new theater series - for February through March. Started about three years ago, Talking Points is held on Tuesday mornings on a variety of subjects.

"We have six lectures set up," she said, adding that they will range from local to timely issues. "One's talking about sea level rise, another is on Lee County and the issue with Robert E. Lee."

One lecture is with author Lynn Povich, who wrote "Good Girls Revolt."

"We have health, we have an education panel," Harder said. "So very interesting topics."

New this year, BIG ARTS will host a series of lectures focused on the theater.

"They'll be very informations and interactive, with the audience dialogue," she said, noting that they will include a question-and-answer session. "The theater lectures will also include multi-media."

BIG ARTS will also offer staged play readings, however, the dates have not yet been set yet.

"We've done them in the past, but we've expanded," Harder said. "We'll do a few more readings."

In October, the Phillips Gallery and the Founders Gallery will open to the public. The galleries each showcase one exhibit per month, with each of the exhibitions debuting with an artist's reception.

"Those are always free and open to the public, as are our galleries," she said.

Harder hinted that there will be a new expanded event in December for the community.

In addition, BIG ARTS features a range of ongoing workshops.

"We have a wonderful array of offerings, from painting and drawing, pottery and ceramics, to discussion groups," she said, noting that there is one program called the Winter Academy.

Some topics are HD Live at the Met Lectures, The Roosevelts and Masterpieces of Western Music.